Biomass to porous carbon in one step: directly activated biomass for high performance CO2 storage
This report explores the direct conversion of biomass to activated carbons in one step. We demonstrate the successful conversion of a range of biomass sources, namely, sawdust, the flowering plant Paeonia lactiflora and seaweed (Sargassum fusiforme), to activated carbons via a direct activation proc...
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| Format: | Article |
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Royal Society of Chemistry
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43861/ |
| _version_ | 1848796784375103488 |
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| author | Balahmar, Norah Al-Jumialy, Abdul Salam Mokaya, Robert |
| author_facet | Balahmar, Norah Al-Jumialy, Abdul Salam Mokaya, Robert |
| author_sort | Balahmar, Norah |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This report explores the direct conversion of biomass to activated carbons in one step. We demonstrate the successful conversion of a range of biomass sources, namely, sawdust, the flowering plant Paeonia lactiflora and seaweed (Sargassum fusiforme), to activated carbons via a direct activation process that negates the need for hydrothermal carbonisation or pyrolysis. This is a departure from established practice that requires biomass sources to be first enriched to carbonaceous matter via hydrothermal carbonisation or pyrolysis prior to activation. The direct activation, with KOH as an activating agent, generated activated carbons at yields that are comparable or higher than those of conventional activation routes. The directly activated carbons, whilst offering the advantages of simplicity, lower cost and a greener more sustainable synthesis route, have properties that are similar or superior to analogous carbons prepared via conventional methods. In particular the textural properties, surface functionality and level of graphitic ordering were found to be similar to those of conventionally generated activated carbons. Depending on the activation conditions, the porosity of the directly activated carbons may be tailored towards pore channels of size 5–7 Å, which favour post-combustion CO2 uptake and thus the carbons capture up to 1.3 and 4.6 mmol g−1 of CO2 at 0.15 and 1 bar, respectively, and 25 °C with high selectivity. On the other hand, at higher levels of activation, the directly activated carbons can be tailored towards possessing a greater proportion of larger micropores (10–20 Å pores) and small mesopores (20–30 Å pores) so as to optimize CO2 uptake at moderate to high pressure, for example up to 22 mmol g−1 (at 25 °C) and 31 mmol g−1 (at 0 °C) at 20 bar. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:53:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-43861 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:53:29Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Royal Society of Chemistry |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-438612020-05-04T18:45:50Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43861/ Biomass to porous carbon in one step: directly activated biomass for high performance CO2 storage Balahmar, Norah Al-Jumialy, Abdul Salam Mokaya, Robert This report explores the direct conversion of biomass to activated carbons in one step. We demonstrate the successful conversion of a range of biomass sources, namely, sawdust, the flowering plant Paeonia lactiflora and seaweed (Sargassum fusiforme), to activated carbons via a direct activation process that negates the need for hydrothermal carbonisation or pyrolysis. This is a departure from established practice that requires biomass sources to be first enriched to carbonaceous matter via hydrothermal carbonisation or pyrolysis prior to activation. The direct activation, with KOH as an activating agent, generated activated carbons at yields that are comparable or higher than those of conventional activation routes. The directly activated carbons, whilst offering the advantages of simplicity, lower cost and a greener more sustainable synthesis route, have properties that are similar or superior to analogous carbons prepared via conventional methods. In particular the textural properties, surface functionality and level of graphitic ordering were found to be similar to those of conventionally generated activated carbons. Depending on the activation conditions, the porosity of the directly activated carbons may be tailored towards pore channels of size 5–7 Å, which favour post-combustion CO2 uptake and thus the carbons capture up to 1.3 and 4.6 mmol g−1 of CO2 at 0.15 and 1 bar, respectively, and 25 °C with high selectivity. On the other hand, at higher levels of activation, the directly activated carbons can be tailored towards possessing a greater proportion of larger micropores (10–20 Å pores) and small mesopores (20–30 Å pores) so as to optimize CO2 uptake at moderate to high pressure, for example up to 22 mmol g−1 (at 25 °C) and 31 mmol g−1 (at 0 °C) at 20 bar. Royal Society of Chemistry 2017-05-15 Article PeerReviewed Balahmar, Norah, Al-Jumialy, Abdul Salam and Mokaya, Robert (2017) Biomass to porous carbon in one step: directly activated biomass for high performance CO2 storage. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 5 (24). pp. 12330-12339. ISSN 2050-7496 http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2017/TA/C7TA01722G#!divAbstract doi: 10.1039/C7TA01722Gk doi: 10.1039/C7TA01722Gk |
| spellingShingle | Balahmar, Norah Al-Jumialy, Abdul Salam Mokaya, Robert Biomass to porous carbon in one step: directly activated biomass for high performance CO2 storage |
| title | Biomass to porous carbon in one step: directly activated biomass for high performance CO2 storage |
| title_full | Biomass to porous carbon in one step: directly activated biomass for high performance CO2 storage |
| title_fullStr | Biomass to porous carbon in one step: directly activated biomass for high performance CO2 storage |
| title_full_unstemmed | Biomass to porous carbon in one step: directly activated biomass for high performance CO2 storage |
| title_short | Biomass to porous carbon in one step: directly activated biomass for high performance CO2 storage |
| title_sort | biomass to porous carbon in one step: directly activated biomass for high performance co2 storage |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43861/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43861/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43861/ |